Davis Chancellor in Another Controversy
Chancellor Katehi of UC-Davis spent much of the last academic year dealing with the pepper-spray incident. Now that the pepper incident controversy is (largely) over, another one has arisen.
Today’s Sacramento Bee reports a new brouhaha at Davis, this one involving the abrupt resignation of the dean of the ag school after the chancellor insisted on searching for his replacement 2 years before his term was up. Another administrator also resigned in protest. Although the ag school’s website says “your future starts here,” apparently neither administrator saw it that way.
===
…Dean Neal Van Alfen and Executive Associate Dean James D. MacDonald tendered their resignations Tuesday in letters to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and the university’s provost, Ralph J. Hexter. Van Alfen intends to remain as a faculty member; MacDonald will leave the school. Long considered one of the nation’s premier agricultural schools, UC Davis now finds itself with what one state agricultural expert called “a void of leadership.” UC Davis’ agriculture college is the campus’ oldest…
In his resignation letter and in an interview with The Bee, Van Alfen said the end of his tenure as dean was prompted by Katehi’s decision in late July to start her search for a new dean two years before Van Alfen’s current term was to expire… Van Alfen said Katehi asked him to serve until a replacement was found, but he declined…
MacDonald, in a separate letter Tuesday, announced he was walking away in protest of Katehi’s move to find a new dean for the college. He will resign today…